It’s been awhile since I have sat down and written a review. I guess planning a wedding can do that to you. I should be able to get back to more of a weekly review once the wedding and honeymoon are over in October.

Anyway, today I bring you a review of a beer that I was lucky enough to try thanks to a friend who was able to grab a bottle during it’s release at the brewery.

Maine Beer Company has only released one of these Barrel Program beers to date and this particular one is described as a “blonde and funky ale”. It’s included tag states that it is a blend of two barrel aged beers. Beer 1 is an american farmhouse ale fermented in stainless steel with ale yeast then aged for 20 months in French oak red whine barrels with a mix of wild yeast and souring bacteria. The second beer is Peeper wort (their American ale) fermented 100% with Brettanomyces in French oak red wine barrels, and aged for 12 months. So overall, this beer took a look time to make. With that interesting description to give us an intro, let’s have a brew and check it out.

Aroma: Sour, yeast scent on the nose. This gives way to a floral scent with notes of lemon mixed in. The aroma comes across very clean, a trait I find in all of the Maine Beer brews that I have tried.

Appearance: This beer will pour a golden yellow with very, very little head and almost no effervescence.

Flavor: You will find some but not an overpowering sourness to this brew. Some may also find the yeast flavor hidden within the sourness. A tart citrus flavor will also be prevalent.

Mouthfeel: With no effervescence, this beer also has no carbonation to really speak of. Some may possibly find this trait in different bottles. As I was sipping away on this brew, it was almost like I was drinking juice. It is very comparable to a juice-like mouthfeel.

Overall: This is definitely an interesting brew. After trying this one, it’s complexity gives reason as to why it took so long to make. I found some funk but surprisingly, it was not as sour as I had originally thought going into it. Especially, with the description on the card.